AMD has launched a new addition to its Instinct MI200 GPU series, bringing the company’s high-performance data center accelerators to a wider pool of customers.
Until now, the MI200 series has been comprised of SKUs in only one form factor - the OCP accelerator module (OAM) - which offers optimal performance but limited integration options.
The new Instinct MI210, however, is available in a PCIe form factor that’s compatible with mainstream servers from the likes of Dell, HPE, Lenovo, Gigabyte and others.
AMD in the data center
Announced in November 2021, the Instinct MI200-series is said to blow the competition out of the water across high performance computing (HPC) and AI workloads.
AMD figures suggest the accelerators deliver up to 4.9x better performance than Nvidia A100 GPUs in a supercomputing context. And for AI training workloads, the most powerful MI200 SKU is up to 1.2x faster than competitive accelerators.
The Instinct MI210 offers diminished performance in comparison to the MI200 OAMs, featuring half as many compute units (104) and half as much memory (64GB), but in exchange for superior levels of compatibility.
As AMD explains it, the MI200-series OAMs are ideal for those building top-tier HPC systems (they will feature in the upcoming Frontier supercomputer, for instance), whereas the MI210 caters to a broader base of HPC and AI customers.
“With twice the platforms available compared to our previous generation accelerators, growing customer adoption across HPC and AI applications, and new support from commercial ISVs in key workloads, we’re continuing to drive adoption of the AMD Instinct MI200 accelerators,” said Brad McCredie, CVP of Data Center GPU and Accelerated Processing at AMD.
“Now with the availability of the AMD Instinct MI210 accelerator to the MI200 family, our customers can choose the accelerators that works best for their workloads, whether they need leading-edge accelerated processing for large scale HPC and AI workloads, or if they want access to exascale-class technology in a commercial format.”
The Instinct MI210 is available in servers from a variety of OEMs from today.
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